Those Eyes
by YF-21
Summary: Seven years before their arrival, Commander Ikari gets a disturbing visit. please read and review.


DISCLAIMER: The characters, story, universe, etc. of Neon Genesis  
  
Evangelion belong to GAINAX. They're not mine, and I make no claim to  
  
them.  
  
Those Eyes by YF-21  
  
Chapter 1  
  
August 16th, 2008  
  
Yui...  
  
A gust of wind came through the catwalk. The intoxicating air -that odd mix of oil and smoke- generated by the dozen of heavy machinery, covered the massive place with its warmth and moisture. The noise created by the multiple drills, cranes and bulldozers echoed once and again into the giant walls of the cavernous hangar, making unbearable the already suffocating atmosphere. Myriads of orange shirts and pants filled the building site, operating the various devices, giving orders and coordinating efforts. Men and women, all at work, rushed. Not just to be ahead of schedule but to stay away from _it_.  
  
It.  
  
Cranes, bulldozers, drills, people. Nothing could be compared to It. Dwarfing everything and everyone near it, the purple behemoth stood in its place, guarding the hangar like the Colossus of Rhodes once protected the harbor. The powerful sense of dread it generated overcame all the senses of all those who worked around its feet. Those men and women. They all feared it. Instead of thinking what it could do for them, they couldn´t help thinking what it could do _to_ them.  
  
Once completed, Evangelion Unit 01 would be amongst the first series of mechas designed to _protect_ humanity. One couldn´t help wondering how much had the United Nations´s newest toy costed to a starving family in the east of Africa or a bunch of orphan kids in Central America; or, in that sense, how much the whole Geofront installations costed to the financial aid to the flooded countries of South Asia. Not that the UN didn´t care, of course not, but there were priorities _over_ priorities. There always are.  
  
"This is the promising future of Humankind".  
  
Her words. The man still recalled her voice. Full of hope, for the sheer potential the machine could offer. Just before the accident, just before she was taken away from him. He couldn´t have known then. What the creature wanted, what the creature needed. No one could.  
  
Gendo Ikari stared into the naked core of the titan in front of him. The round core, once a fiery red one, was now a decayed wine-coloured one. He took a step closer to the maroon semisphere and laid a hand over it. It was cold and hard, as he had expected. Its surface was plain and flawless, like it had been sculpted with mastery from a stone.  
  
Eva. A vessel for the body. A prison for the soul.  
  
Hers.  
  
Caressing the core, his cold eyes softened a bit. Perhaps -he hoped- she would feel him through the hard surface or viceversa. He missed her so much. She had become his reality, the only thing worthwhile.  
  
For a moment his mind was flooded with memories. Memories of a better time, long ago. Of love and caring, understanding and longing. Of how unique he was to her eyes. Of the way she saw everything that was good in him. All those memories, all those images, all buried in his heart. The place -he had decided- they would be until she returned to him.  
  
Nonsense...  
  
His eyes returned to their usual distant, cold gaze. There was no time for sentimentalism. Many things had to be done before their arrival. Many things had to be done before he could see her again.  
  
"She is calling out for you, Commander".  
  
As a reflex, Gendo turned around in the catwalk to meet no-one in particular. All he saw were technicians and engineers busy at work. No one of them had spoken to him.  
  
He knew exactly what that meant.  
  
"Even now, she keeps irritating me with her constant moaning and whining".  
  
He didn´t want to listen to him. He had no time for _this_.  
  
"Lilums can be such an annoying species".  
  
The voice in his mind. The half-mocking masculine voice.  
  
"I wish there was a way to make her come into reason. Without hurting her, of course".  
  
He hated him so much. "Go away".  
  
"Sometimes I forget that Lilums are also such a fragile little creatures".  
  
_Lilums_. He hated the term the creature used to refer to humans. How he used it in such a contemptuous way. "Leave me alone".  
  
"Excuse me if i´m bothering you Ikari. How could I forget that the humans are the _kings_ of all creation?".  
  
Laughter.  
  
Of all the people present in the hangar, it would only talk to him. Since back then, it have always been that way. It had chosen him to be it´s liaison to the Lilums.  
  
The Commander never rose his voice more than a mere whisper. "What do you want?".  
  
"What´s the matter? We no longer talk the way we used to".  
  
"I have no relation with you".  
  
"You see?, that´s exactly what i´m talking about. How are we supposed to get through all of this if we can´t even talk?".  
  
He cleared the catwalk and headed for an elevator. "That´s your problem".  
  
"No". The voice dropped the mocking tone and turned into a darker, more menacing one. "My problems are your problems. My problems become yours. It is a pity that you don´t have any more wives to extort you with."  
  
He was not going to humor it. He would not let that bother him.  
  
"If only I could show her all the things you have done in her absence... all those things you have done in her name...".  
  
Closing his eyes, his right hand clenched into a fist. His knuckles white from the pressure.  
  
"Perhaps it would finally stop the moaning and the whining".  
  
"SHUT UP!".  
  
...  
  
Opening his eyes, Gendo was meet by all the incredulous stares of the technicians and the engineers in the catwalk. They had suddenly stopped their chores, startled by his shouting. "What´s his problem?".  
  
The voice in his mind was gone. Readjusting his glasses with his finger, the Commander turned again into his usual self.  
  
He had had enough. The creature had gone too far this time. Teasing him. Torturing him.  
  
Dealing with it was tiring if not excruciating. The fact that he could contacted anytime and anywhere was nothing more than a terrible burden for the man. The being could read him like an open book, foreseeing every response. It knew everything about him, every secret and desire. Back then, it had seen through his soul.  
  
Perhaps it only wanted to see him outburst.  
  
As the elevator slowly made it´s way into the lower levels of the hangar, the older Ikari watched the scene unfolding ahead of him.  
  
At least seventy, eighty people were working at the same time in the hangar floor. This particular crane operator got his attention. The man stared wide-eyed at the massive feet next to him, absorved by them.  
  
"The minion. Look at them, Ikari, they are afraid of it...". His eyes slightly widened as the heard the voice again, deep within his mind. "Even from here I can sense their fear". Using all his force of will, the operator looked away from the robot, started the machine and resumed working.  
  
"I will give them reasons to...".  
  
The massacre. He could imagine it. The creature only had to pull some of the strings of the armored puppet... "Don´t do it".  
  
"And refrain me from the thrill I get from watching you pathetic lilums writhe in delicious agony?. I don´t think so".  
  
The workers. Their unsuspecting faces. "It would be counterproductive".  
  
"I´m sure you can always find more of your engineers".  
  
It´s words were final. The workers on the hangar, condemned. For the control it exerted over the mindless, soulless beasts was total. For it was the source of the Evangelions themselves. The very mind behind them..  
  
Adam.  
  
"After all, it exist to cease".  
  
He couldn´t stop make it stop, he wasn´t capable of. He knew that. If the creature felt like it, it could have them tear the entire installation apart.  
  
All he could now was wait. Wait for the unstoppable monster to start moving on its own. Wait for the panic, the horror.  
  
"No... the decision will be yours, Ikari".  
  
The man was completely caught off-guard. "What?".  
  
"Let me kill them..." The creature´s voice turned into a soft whisper "Let me kill them and I will set her free".  
  
His eyes widened.  
  
The temptation.  
  
The predicament.  
  
Her.  
  
"Their lives are in your hands, what it shall be?".  
  
Their faces. An image of hers.  
  
"Decide now".  
  
Yui...  
  
"Is she worth their lives?".  
  
He would have destroyed the world if that meant seeing her again. "Yes".  
  
Laughter.  
  
"Do you understand now, Ikari?. Of why I deign to talk to you?.  
  
...  
  
"Because we are alike".  
  
Denial. "I´m not like you".  
  
"You think i´m a monster, a cold hearted assasin. You are right, but you are as cold-blooded as I am. Perhaps even more".  
  
...  
  
"Although those lilum mean nothing to me, they are your brethren. You just sold them out to me. Because of your petty wishes, they could be dead".  
  
It didn´t come to torture him. It didn´t come to kill his men. "You just wanted to show me that?".  
  
"No. I was just reminding you of why I chose you to be my liaison".  
  
"Why?".  
  
"Because you are willing to make the _sacrifice_".  
  
...  
  
"To make our dreams come true, we are both willing to sacrifice anything or anyone".  
  
Anger. Shame. "What do you want?".  
  
"As I said before, I just wanted to talk".  
  
The elevator´s doors finally opened. As the Commander began walking among the workers, no one of them could ever imagine how close they were of dying.  
  
Betrayed by they own commander, victims of a despicable monster.  
  
"What is it, then?".  
  
"Is it ready, Commander?".  
  
He knew now the true reason of his visit. "She´s not ready. Not yet".  
  
"I will be the one who decides that".  
  
The project. That god-damned project. "I will present her to you as scheduled. Nor sooner nor after".  
  
"Bring her to me today and I will set her free".  
  
He stopped dead in his track. "Do you-".  
  
"I give you my word, Ikari".  
  
"I´ll see what can I do".  
  
"Good. It is a deal then. I will be waiting for you".  
  
He was alone again. Alone with his thoughts.  
  
Soon Yui, soon...  
  
The crane operator rubbed his eyes. Perhaps it had been was a bad trick of the light. Perhaps the suffocating atmosphere was begining to affect him. But he could have sworn that for the briefest of moments, he had seen the Commander actually smile.  
  
To be Continued...  
  
Author Notes in the next chapter.  
  
Comments?, Critics?, Death Threats?: mail me at serjzerg@hotmail.com 


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